Joining me now is "energyNOW!" contributor Amanda Little, author of the book "Power Trip." James Taylor is Senior Fellow on Environmental Issues at the Heartland Institute, and from Cancun and the UN Climate Summit, "energyNOW!" contributor Aimee Christiansen with Christiansen Global Strategies. Welcome, everybody.

Certainly, these 200 nations are finding this very serious. I want to look at how Americans really feel about this, and I want to look at a number of polls that were done by the Pew Research Center and get your reaction to those. So 2,200 people were asked, "Is there solid evidence that the earth is warming?" And you can see a downward trend in people who say "yes" to that, from about 80% down to about 60%. Also, they were asked, "Is global warming a very serious problem?" You can see the decline in that from 2006 to 2010. 43% of folks believe it is, right down to about 32% who say "no."

Aimee, let me start with you, are you concerned about this issue falling off the radar of the American public?

[CHRISTIANSEN] Absolutely, because this issue continues to require urgent attention by Washington and by all of us in moving forward and creating the clean economy, but especially now, because of the situation with our economy, we need an engine to our economic recovery, and clean energy is such a great engine for that, and the American public loves clean energy. That is the one thing we do know. And it's very hard for people to admit that something's a problem, like climate change, if they don't have a solution to it. Fortunately, now, we have cost-effective solutions in the form of clean energy. We just need to allow the American public to know that this is an opportunity and not just a threat.

[McGINNIS] But there seems to be little doubt from these polls. And that's not the only one -- Rasmussen poll also shows the public believe climate change as a problem has waned. James, no surprise to you?

[TAYLOR] No surprise at all, because people have been crying "wolf" for so many years, and the wolf never comes. So, sooner or later, people are going to give up believing these claims of doom and gloom and do the research themselves. And the fact is we're not facing a global warming crisis.

[McGINNIS] What do you say, Amanda? This falling level of interest, does it damage the effort to deal with this?

[LITTLE] 97% of active climate scientists believe that climate change is a reality. And so the declining concern is definitely at odds with that unanimity -- I mean, near unanimity. But I think it's important to recognize that the wolf is here, and the wolf, in this year, came in the form of the hottest six months on record -- January to July. And, you know, the U.K. Royal Society just came out and said in 50 years, we could have 7 degrees warming, which is an extraordinary reality.

[McGINNIS] There's little doubt, though, that these polls -- and we're talking about the public here, not the climate scientists -- are finding this a less serious issue, it's less important to them. When we saw these polls, we got curious and sent out a note on Facebook to ask people if climate change has fallen off their radar, and here are some of the answers that we got.

From Ed Gallagher in Media, Pennsylvania, "Was never on my radar. The planet cools and then warms then cools ad infinitum."

We have Roman Lillie in Jersey City, New Jersey, who says, "It's still very important to me, but I think the topic can seem overwhelming at times."

George Mallet in Milwaukee says, "Global warming is a real phenomenon and it is naive to think that the fossil fuels we burn have no impact. I remain very concerned about this."

And J.B. Sugar in New York says, "I think that the issue has somewhat fallen off of a lot of people's radar -- for many reasons; among them: Americans' short attention spans."

So, clearly, we found a mix of different opinions. James, let me ask you, I mean, there certainly is doubt -- is it justified?

[TAYLOR] Oh, absolutely, it's justified. Regarding the assertion that temperatures for this year were setting records -- for a few months, we had extremely high temperatures, but we also have been in an extremely strong El Niño, when temperatures are supposed to be very high. The fact that this year's not going to be warmer than 1998, despite the strong El Niño, tells us that, as a whole, the earth's climate, if it's warming at all, is doing so very, very slowly.

[McGINNIS] Aimee, what do you have to say about this sort of change in public opinion? Does it hurt the efforts to do what you believe we need to combat climate change?

[CHRISTIANSEN] Absolutely, and there's a real disconnect between public perception and the factual reality of the changing climate. As Amanda said, 97% of the world's scientists who are experts on this issue are saying this is happening largely due to human activities. Therefore, we need to reconnect with the American public that not only is this a real challenge -- and we're already seeing that with the costs that are being paid due to the floods and the other impacts of climate change that we're already starting to see, so as far as crying "wolf," absolutely not, the wolf is here.

But we have to show people that there is a better future, and that's what the CEOs of Coca-Cola, the Dow Chemical company, and Duke Energy were doing here on Monday night. When they kicked off the presence of business at COP16, they were saying, "Look, you can take a time out in government, we can't take a time out as business leaders. We're going to continue to educate our consumers, to invest in energy efficiency." This is about business opportunity and innovation, and they're going to continue to lead, regardless of what the public thinks, but because of the scale of the challenge, we need the public to be part of this.

[McGINNIS] I want your reaction to comments from Senator James Inhofe. He made a video for the Cancun Summit. He's the ranking minority member on the Committee for Environment and Public Works.

[INHOFE] The fact is, nothing is going to happen in Cancun this year, and everybody knows it. I couldn't be happier, and poor Al Gore couldn't be more upset. It has been widely reported that he's depressed about Cancun. But let me be clear -- despite our successes over the past year, global warming alarmists will continue to push their agenda. For example, some leaders in Cancun are stepping up their attacks on capitalism, and United Nations officials are saying that we need to do more to spread the wealth around, all of this, and more of the same.

[McGINNIS] Amanda, what's your reaction to that? He's actually calling the believers the alarmists.

[LITTLE] Yeah, I think I'd like to dovetail with Aimee's point, that the solutions to global warming are going to be the biggest economic drivers of our century. This is good news, and there's so much emphasis on bad news. There's so much emphasis on inconclusive science, which, I think, of course, is wrong, but I think that the opportunity here is to look at the common ground. We all want to create jobs -- there's tremendous opportunity for job creation in climate change solutions. And there's tremendous opportunity for efficiency and to create a much tighter machine for the American economy.

[McGINNIS] James, a quick note about Inhofe's comments.

[TAYLOR] I agree with him that it's a good thing that we're not giving in to the demands being made at Cancun. For example, that rich nations should devote 1% of their GDP to paying off poor nations. That would be $1,400 for every U.S. household every year. We don't have that money.

But while I have the chance, I'd like to address this fairy-tale notion that 97% of scientists agree we're facing a global warming crisis. Every time you hear this statistic or assertions like that, ask yourself, "Where is the supporting data? What survey, what poll are they citing?" Other than some guy who happens to be an alarmist himself surveying a bunch of his neighbors and colleagues.

[McGINNIS] I just need to get a final word. Aimee Christiansen, in Cancun, what's your reaction to Inhofe's comments?

[CHRISTIANSEN] I guess I would say, are you not so patriotic to think that America can step up and lead on this challenge, which is also our greatest opportunity for innovation and job creation? Are you so undermining of America's prowess in this area? We can do this, and not only will it improve addressing climate change, but it will be the most important engine of our economic recovery, and how dare you doubt the American public?

[McGINNIS] Okay, we'll have to leave it there. Aimee Christiansen in Cancun, James Taylor, and Amanda Little, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate your insight.